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Frontiers of Philosophy in China

ISSN 1673-3436

ISSN 1673-355X(Online)

CN 11-5743/B

Postal Subscription Code 80-983

Front. Philos. China    2019, Vol. 14 Issue (4) : 630-648    https://doi.org/10.3868/s030-008-019-0037-9
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Hintikka’s Logical Revolution
XU Difei()
School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
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Abstract

Hintikka thinks that second-order logic is not pure logic, and because of Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, he suggests that we should liberate ourselves from the mistaken idea that first-order logic is the foundational logic of mathematics. With this background he introduces his independence friendly logic (IFL). In this paper, I argue that approaches taking Hintikka’s IFL as a foundational logic of mathematics face serious challenges. First, the quantifiers in Hintikka’s IFL are not distinguishable from Linström’s general quantifiers, which means that the quantifiers in IFL involve higher order entities. Second, if we take Wright’s interpretation of quantifiers or if we take Hale’s criterion for the identity of concepts, Quine’s thesis that second-order logic is set theory will be rejected. Third, Hintikka’s definition of truth itself cannot be expressed in the extension of language of IFL. Since second-order logic can do what IFL does, the significance of IFL for the foundations of mathematics is weakened.

Keywords independence friendly logic (IFL)      game theoretical semantics      second-order logic      the definition of truth     
Issue Date: 06 January 2020
 Cite this article:   
XU Difei. Hintikka’s Logical Revolution[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2019, 14(4): 630-648.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/10.3868/s030-008-019-0037-9
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/Y2019/V14/I4/630
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